1. Technical Field
The present application relates generally to an improved data processing system and method. More specifically, the present application is directed to a system and method for masking a hardware boot sequence.
2. Description of Related Art
As our society becomes increasingly dependent upon electronic communication and storage of information, concerns over the security of digital information, such as personal information and digital rights management (DRM), have increased. Moreover, the sophistication of computer hackers and other unauthorized interlopers into computing systems has increased in recent years. As a result, much effort has gone into the development of security systems for computing devices so that such sensitive digital information may be secured from unauthorized access.
One way in which an intruder may gain access to a computing system is to observe the boot activity of a computing system through electrical interfaces and other observable electromagnetic or thermal activity. By observing the boot activity in this way, the intruder may deduce what data signals are being input and output by the boot processor, what cryptographic algorithms are running on the processors, and the like. From this information, an intruder may detect points in the boot sequence where unauthorized intrusion may be made. Moreover, with secure boot sequences in which security keys are required for booting of the system, the intruder may reverse the cryptographic algorithm used by the boot processor to obtain access to the security keys and thereby be given complete access to the computing system. Since the overall security of the computing system is often dependent upon the security of the boot process, when the intruder gains access to the boot sequence, the security of the entire system may be at risk.
Thus, it would be beneficial to have an apparatus and method that increases the difficulty of monitoring the boot sequence of a processor so as to make the system more secure from unauthorized intrusion.